


Sparring

by SpinningLenny



Series: Things That Might Have Happened [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-17 23:11:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3547289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpinningLenny/pseuds/SpinningLenny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A krogan and a turian walk into a shuttle bay...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There was a crash, and a thump, and when the elevator doors opened, her mouth acted without even consulting her brain.

"Freeze!"

With her combat awareness engaged, it took only a fraction of a second to take in the whole room: Ashley at her station, a half assembled shotgun in hand. Tali beside the workstation of the currently absent requisitions officer, arms crossed and head cocked. And in the center of the floor, Wrexpushing Garrus to the ground in a hold that looked both secure and painful.

"Stand down. Release him."

The krogan stepped back, and she watched Garrus pick himself up with mandibles drawn tightly to his jaw.

"Anyone care to explain what the hell is going on here?"

With an amused rumble in his voice, Wrex answered, "Just a little sparring, Shepard."

"Sparring. Is that true?"

She turned to Garrus who was standing at attention with the uneasy tension of a man who knew he had done something wrong, but wasn't sure what.

"Yes, Commander."

"Really?"

"Relax, Shepard. I was just showing the kid some moves his fancy C-Sec training didn't prepare him for."

Garrus nodded, though she could see him bristling at Wrex' choice of words.

"Is that so."

She crossed her arms and gave them her best Deciding Fate of Subordinates glare while she scoured her brain on whether that was a turian or krogan cultural thing, and how she'd best handle the situation.

_When in doubt, put the question to someone else._

"Now what do you expect me to do about this?"

"Well," came Tali's thoughtful voice from the side, "you _could_ order them to take off their shirts."

There was a suppressed snort and she turned to Ashley, who was busily polishing the shotgun, with the rigid expression if someone trying hard not to smile.

"Any thoughts, Chief?"

"Sorry, ma'am. Just trying to be respectful of other cultures and customs. Didn't want to cause offense."

Now it was Shepard's turn to bite back a smile. Nice to see that Ashley had gotten so comfortable around the aliens that she'd even let her snark show a little.

She turned back to the would-be combatants.

"Are you aware that on human vessels, we do not condone crewmen beating each other up?"

Garrus obviously hadn't, judging from the surprised flicker in his eyes, but Wrex merely shrugged.

"Bloody stupid idea, if you ask me. How are they going to learn? Look at that one." He waved his hand in Garrus' direction. "There's finally some sense leaking into that tiny plated skull. Would be a shame if he got killed the next time a real fighter gets in close."

Shepard stepped forward until she could grin in his face.

"Aw, Wrex, that is so sweet. I didn't know you cared."

He grinned back.

"Maybe I just enjoy slapping turians around."

"Maybe."

But she would have bet serious credits that that wasn't the whole reason.

"Commander, I have received extensive training in hand-to-hand combat, and I'm definitely able to hold my own in any fight!"

Garrus sounded so pissed that almost wanted to pat his head.

_Might actually be good for him if he can learn something from Wrex._

"Really." She moved over to the row of lockers and leaned against the wall. "Then impress me."

After a second's hesitation, they both assumed their combat stance. Garrus attacked first, as she'd expected, and she watched them move back and forth.

He hadn't been exaggerating about his training. Every move he made looked polished and confident, and she was certain that he was used to having the upper hand in most fights.

Wrex on the other hand had several centuries of experience on his side. He moved with an economic precision that appeared almost lumbering, only to turn into lethal quickness at the right moment.

He was also holding back.

Garrus, though, had apparently taken her "impress me" at face value and seemed to be giving it his best. Occasionally, after a particularly smooth attack, his eyes flickered in her direction as though to gauge her approval. It was during one of those split-second lapses of attention that Wrex finally advanced. With a move that seemed both effortless and inevitable, he half-flipped the turian in the air, then pinned him to the floor in the same hold she'd seen on her arrival.

"Dammit!"

Garrus struggled for several seconds, but the krogan didn't move an inch. Eventually he relaxed.

"All right. Now how do I get out of this?"

"You don't. You avoid getting into it. Get up."

Wrex stood up, and Garrus followed suit.

"Try that last attack again."

As she watched them move through the sequence several times, Shepard had to admit that Wrex was a surprisingly good teacher. He needled and mocked and taunted, but in between, his feedback and instructions were clear and to the point. Garrus, for his part, appeared quick to take the suggestions and adapt them to his own fighting style, though more than once she saw him pause and take a deep breath as though struggling to keep his temper in check.

At one point, she caught Wrex' eye and was suddenly sure that he knew exactly what he was doing. And was enjoying every minute of it.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Tali shifting her stance and turned to her. Noticing her attention, Tali tugged on a fold of her suit and cocked her head in askance. Shepard smiled and shook her head softly, which made the quarian give an exaggerated disappointed slump.

After a few more repetitions, as Wrex attempted the flip again, Garrus finally managed to twist away in a move that looked like it should have dislocated both his hips, but didn't seem to faze him.

"Yes!"

His triumph lasted all of two seconds before Wrex swept his legs out and knocked him on his back.

"Not bad. But can you do it again?"

As Garrus scrambled to his feet, Shepard pushed away from the wall. She'd have liked to stay and watch, but the ship didn't run itself and she still had people to check in on.

"All right, boys, I'll leave you to it. But Wrex? Try to leave my ship in one piece, will you?"

"Hah. I'll try. What about your turian?"

She gave Garrus an appraising look, then grinned.

"Guess he'll have to fend for himself."


	2. Chapter 2

As she rounded the wall separating the mess hall from the elevator, Shepard stopped for a second to take in the crew assembled for dinner. Miranda sharing a table and apparently polite conversation with Thane and Samara. Grunt hanging on to Zaaed's every word as he no doubt recounted another one of his excellent adventures. And in the corner, with her back to the wall, Jack sitting with Tali and Garrus. Admittedly she was scowling into her tray of food instead of taking part in their animated and probably highly technical conversation, but still. For Jack that was practically a group hug with collective sing-along, so she'd count it as a win.

_Always nice when a plan works._

For a moment she was tempted to head over to their table, but then she caught Garrus tidying up his tray and rise to return it to Gardner. Oh well. She'd been meaning to catch up with Jacob anyway.

_And if you pick the right seat, you can watch his ass all the way back to the battery._

_Shut up, brain._

She had just stopped to return the greetings of a few crewmen when she heard a shout of "Battlemaster, watch!" and suddenly everything went very fast. Moving like a brownish-grey blur, Grunt slammed into Garrus, sending his tray flying. The turian rolled and twisted, but in an instant Grunt flipped him in the air and locked him in a tight hold on the floor.

"Grunt! What the -"

She broke off when she saw Garrus frantically waving the 'hold your fire' sign with his free hand.

"Very good, Grunt. I'm sure the battlemaster is impressed. Isn't she?"

His voice was tight with painful subvocals, but his hand was giving the 'follow my lead' sign. With some effort, she fought down the impulse to push Grunt off and give him an earfull.

"Very impressed, yes. She'd be even more impressed if she knew why exactly you two are fighting in my mess hall."

The krogan finally let go, and she could see Garrus sagging in relief.

"Battlemaster, did you see?" Grunt was almost bouncing on his feet as he spoke. "He fights almost like a krogan, but I can beat him. I am learning more every day, just like you told me to."

"Yes, you are, and she is very proud of you, right, Shepard?"

She looked at her seven foot, four hundred pound, genetically perfected killing machine who was presently beaming like a puppy who had managed to sit on command for the very first time.

"Yes, Grunt, I'm very proud of you. You're learning well. But from now on you'll confine your demonstrations to actual combat, understood?"

"Yes, Battlemaster!"

"Very good. Now how about you head down to the shuttle bay and run a few laps? That should do you good."

_And hopefully work off a little of that boundless energy._

"I'll do that."

She watched him until he disappeared in the direction of the elevator, then turned to her crew who were staring at her with varying degrees of alarm and amusement.

"All right, folks, show's over. As you were, and enjoy your dinner."

The murmur of conversation rose up again. She moved over to Garrus who was still lying on the floor and crossed her arms.

"You're getting old, Vakarian."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Cause I remember Wrex pulling that same move on you and you were still upright afterwards."

"Shepard. He's been practicing that move for two weeks. Which, considering his attention span, is practically half his life. He's finally mastered it this morning and I promised he could show it to you as soon as you had time. Guess he got a little over-excited."

"Are you seriously telling me," she crouched down to better meet his yes, "are you seriously telling me that you let him trounce you in the middle of the mess hall just so he could show off to his Battlemaster?"

He gave her a hard stare.

"I admit no such thing."

"Garrus. That is so -"

"If you say 'sweet' I'm leaving the ship and never coming back."

" - _adorable._ "

"I hate you."

But when she offered her hand, he let her pull him up. Only she must have misjudged her strength again, because suddenly they were face to face, with only scant inches between them. When he held her gaze for one long moment, she felt her face splitting into the stupid smile she seemed to be wearing around him all the time lately. It was only the clinking of silverware that brought her back to reality.

_Mess hall. Dinner time. Not the moment for making googly eyes at Garrus Vakarian._

Still, it took quite some effort to release his hand and step back.

"Think I should give him a lollipop or something?"

"Maybe a sparkly sticker, if you've got one." Garrus lowered his voice as his face turned serious. "Really, Shepard, he's been working hard. He wants to make you proud."

There was the tiniest edge to his voice, the one she remembered from long ago night time talks by the Mako, when he'd spoken at length about his successful and respected and demanding father, and hadn't spoken at all about the pain of never quite measuring up.

_Mess hall! Dinner time! NOT the moment to be melting into a puddle of goo over Garrus Vakarian!_

"I'll talk to him. Make sure he knows I appreciate his efforts."

"Thanks. And sorry about the... " he waved his hand to where Gardner was presently cleaning up the spilled tray. "Maybe also tell him to leave your ship in one piece."

Her mouth curled in a tiny smile as she remembered.

"What about my turian?"

Something flickered in his eyes at her words, but it was replaced by a smirk before she had the chance to read it.

"I think he can fend for himself."


End file.
